Post by Patricia on Sept 19, 2017 5:55:28 GMT 9

Hello,

I'm very happy to have found this community of bilingual and multilingual families! I have a 2-year-old son and live in the U.S. (upstate New York) with my American husband. I left my native Austria 10 years ago to work in the U.S. My parents and siblings (and all extended family) live in Austria. My husband's parents came to the U.S. from Estonia when they were children.

A recent challenge brought me to Adam Beck's book - and to this community: My son has not started speaking yet. I began to question whether I may be creating a confusing environment for my son as I am the only person speaking the minority language (my native German) with him, while speaking the majority language with my husband and in-laws. I considered sticking with English to form a more "coherent front" with my husband in encouraging our son to start enunciating words. The resources on this site (especially the reference of "The Speech Stop" and the guest post by Ana Paula G. Mumy about bilingualism and speech delay) have provided great encouragement.

My efforts continue to be geared towards my son being able to communicate in German (maybe even using Austrian dialect) with his grandparents and cousins in Austria. In addition, I would like to encourage my mother-in-law, who is our "nanny/granny" during the workday, to continue sharing her native language (Estonian) and culture with my son. My husband does not speak German (aside from a few words and phrases to make our Little One laugh), but he is highly supportive of my efforts.

My mother-in-law used to speak and sing Estonian to our son in his first year of life (and even I learned some songs and phrases from her), but she stopped being comfortable doing so as he crossed from baby to toddler. This might be rooted in a negative experience her son (my husband) had when starting kindergarten in the U.S.: He spoke no English, as the language spoken at home was Estonian (his Estonian-speaking grandparents lived with them). His peers - and the kindergarten teachers - didn't quite know what to make of a child who couldn't communicate in English, and building proficiency in English was a painful process for him. This negative experience as a 4-year-old led to my husband's Estonian becoming entirely "dormant": as an adult, he is not able to speak or understand Estonian. Bottom line, beyond encouraging my mother-in-law not to abandon providing some exposure to Estonian, I am currently not making any additional efforts towards Estonian exposure for my son as I have no functional knowledge of the Estonian language.

I would love to hear from parents in this community, and would be happy to provide any input that might be of use with respect to German -- or Austrian dialect, where the resources are more scarce.

Post by Marisa on Sept 19, 2017 23:41:44 GMT 9

Hi Patricia!

My daughter is 18 months old. Since she was born, I've only spoken Spanish to her (I'm originally from Spain, and we live in the US, where my daughter was born). She attends daycare, and the only language she hears there is English, and now I'm doing my very best to expose her to German (I have a basic knowledge of the language, but can't speak it well, unfortunately). Last week she had her scheduled visit to her pediatrician's office, and the nurse asked me whether she's able to say at least 15 words. I had to laugh a little. She can't articulate 15 words in any language. However, she understands everything in both English and Spanish. It's absolutely great, cute, and highly encouraging when I notice how she does something new that I didn't know she could do when I tell her something in Spanish. Compared to last month, now she puts her hands in her head and plays with her hair when I tell her "how do you wash your hair?," moves her index finger up and down near her mouth when I ask her "how do your brush your teeth?," or my personal favorite, she jumps when I sing to her a song in which she's asked to jump and then fall down, which she does!! And all this in Spanish! And yesterday, for the very first time, I asked her in German "what does the dog say?,"... and she made a cute barking sound! Bottom line, I'm surprised to see how much she understands, even if she's not producing many words yet...but that day will come, I'm sure!

As for the German resources, right now I mainly rely on Amazon.com. The Goethe Institute website has a link with some resources for children (https://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/en/spr/unt/kum/dfk/dff.html). She enjoys the Felix und Franzi cartoons, actually, so I might have to buy the puppets at some point! I'm still hoping to find the German equivalent of Spanish Playground, a phenomenal website with all sorts of resources for Spanish...so if I eventually find it, I'll let you know!

Post by Patricia on Sept 20, 2017 0:46:09 GMT 9

Hi Marisa!

Thank you so much for reaching out, and for sharing from your experiences with your adorable daughter! When my son was around your daughter's age, he loved it when I asked, "Wie groß ist der Bub?" ("How tall is the boy?"), to which his reply was to fling his arms up as high as he could, with a big grin, and looking at me expectantly until I said, "So groß!!" ("This tall!")

I wholeheartedly agree...the pediatrician's "15 words" question stumped me! My son is similar in that he seems to understand everything in both English and German, to the degree that we have to watch what we say, even in passing. For example, if we mention the playground, he expects us to go there. He also knows his surroundings quite well, so he gets upset as soon as we pull into the pediatrician's parking lot. He also enjoys German nursery rhymes and songs (and I'll be happy to share, or look for, anything that you feel might be fun for your daughter).

I hadn't previously seen the Goethe Institute's site (and Felix and Franzi ), thank you so much for sharing! I also have not found a good German equivalent to Spanish Playground, it seems to be in a class of its own! There are, however, various German sites with resources and videos geared towards young children, such as "Sendung mit der Maus" (http://www.wdrmaus.de/) or "Kikaninchen" (http://www.kikaninchen.de/kikaninchen/videos/index.html).

Please let me know any time you're looking for anything in particular, and I'll be very happy to see if I could help. My cousin's daughter is 18 months old and they live in Germany; and my brother's son is 15 months old and living in Austria (and they regularly travel to Germany as well for my brother's work) -- so please feel free to let me know if I could reach out for resources.

Post by Adam Beck on Sept 20, 2017 14:58:25 GMT 9

Patricia, welcome! I'm so glad you found Ana Paula's guest post at Bilingual Monkeys and her work at The Speech Stop. As a trilingual speech-language pathologist, with children of her own, she has a wealth of wisdom to offer, from both professional and personal experience.

While I don't know the full details of your son's language development, I would advise being cautious about increasing your use of the majority language. This may seem to be helpful for his acquisition of English, but over the longer run, it may not really matter--since this acquisition is surely proceeding at a steady pace, anyway--and the greater "danger" is that you could end up undermining both his exposure to German and his felt need to actively use this language with you. As I often stress, the two "core conditions" for fostering active language use are exposure and need, and it's vital that we make effective choices with these two conditions in mind.

So I would suggest maintaining your proactive efforts to provide him with input in German, while continuing to monitor his overall language development, with the good consul of specialists like Ana Paula.

At the same time, although your mother-in-law's feelings are understandable, if she could be persuaded to continue offering some exposure to Estonian, I suspect this would be a lovely bonus for the future, in terms of your son's heritage, even if his ability in this language remains largely passive. (And hearing Estonian in the house may awaken some positive interest, even ability, in your husband, too.)

Patricia, I hope this community, as well as my blog and book, can be helpful sources of support to you and your family as your bilingual journey continues!

Adam Beck is the founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo, and the author of the popular book Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability amzn.to/22XKuCt and the humorous novel How I Lost My Ear amzn.to/2EsjVRS, both available worldwide. Please support The Bilingual Zoo through Adam's Patreon page www.patreon.com/bilingualmonkeys.

Post by Amy on Sept 20, 2017 17:40:05 GMT 9

Wilkommen Patricia!

Little bilinguals can often take a little longer to speak than their monolingual peers since they have twice as much to learn. However, bilingualism is not a cause of speech delay, otherwise over 50% of the world population would suffer from it since this is the number of bilinguals in the world!

I was once told by a pediatrician to quit educating my eldest daughter in ml2 (most probably owing to bias as I'm a non-native) as it was allegedly adding to her "pronunciation problem"...strangely enough my native ml1 husband was never told to quit educating her in ml1… One year down the line and still bringing our kids up in our 2 mls, my daughter is fine (speech therapist found no disorder; just a session a week to support her upon therapist’s suggestion) and trilingual. Listen to your heart, and stick to your guns. Actually, I have come across far more monolinguals with speech problems than bilinguals. As an anecdote, a monolingual relative of mine only started speaking at age 5!

I agree with Adam’s caution about increasing ML exposure. My eldest daughter only started using her 2 mls when she was 4, and this only after we introduced a ml@h rule. Before that, my husband and I used to communicate in ML and hence my eldest daughter did not feel the need to use her mls with either of us. Since hubby and I understand one another’s ml, we stopped using the ML and our daughter went from passive to active.

My youngest is now 18 months old and she is starting to say loads of words (she is much more motivated than her sister at the same age - but I put this down to having a bigger sister which acts as a serious driver).

Viel gluck Patricia! You’ll see, the day your little one will speak in both English and German will feel really magical and blow all these doubts away!

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Mayken on Sept 21, 2017 0:28:38 GMT 9

Welcome to the Zoo, Patricia!

I was in a similar situation to yours when my daughter was little; We live in France, our ML is French, our ml is German (northern German ), we use OPOL, and up until she was five years old, I was the only regular source of German for my daughter. My husband attended German classes at school at some point, but only because his presence in class was required, if you see what I mean. Like your husband, he speaks a few words that will make our daughter laugh. (But to his defense, since she was born, he has developed quite a good comprehension of German.)All my family lives in Germany, and we only visit occasionally - usually for a week at Christmas and for two weeks in summer. We skype with my mom on a very irregular basis.

After her birth, I stayed home for four months, then I went back to work full time. Until she was 3, my daughter spent weekdays at a child-minder's who spoke exclusively French. The next two years, she was enrolled in the French public school system in preschool, also exclusively French.Despite all that overwhelming French exposure, at age 4½, my daughter successfully passed the admission test for a school with a bilingual program, for which you need to be fluent in the ml - several of her classmates have two ml-speaking parents or spent part of their early childhood in a German-speaking country. (She got one out of 6 available spots that year.)

Long story short, keep at it day by day, don't get discouraged (and if you do, come here and post, we'll cheer you up and give you new ideas), and don't worry too much.

Post by Patricia on Sept 21, 2017 1:55:39 GMT 9

Dear Adam,

Thank you so very much for your encouraging words!

I carve out a few minutes each day to continue reading your book - which has served as my main inspiration for sticking with my goals and matching them with dedicated action - as well as to check out the helpful resources on this site. I will be sure to post my heartfelt positive review of your book to Amazon.

Are there any plans to have the book translated into other languages? Aside from Spanish for the US market, I think it could have even more international appeal when reaching its audience in the native language.

I recently introduced the book to my brother's wife, who is Polish (they live in Austria with their 15-month old); unfortunately, she does not speak or read English at this level - so I do my best to translate the main principles expressed in the book to German (wishing that I knew Polish, too). She feels somewhat "stigmatized" when speaking Polish in public, so they use primarily the majority language (German).

I hope that my sending her messages with translated excerpts from your book (often in "real time" as I'm reading it) will spark her interest in raising her son with exposure to her native language unapologetically and proudly.

Post by Patricia on Sept 21, 2017 2:07:30 GMT 9

Dear Amy,

I cannot thank you enough for sharing from your experience and cheering me on! You are a true role model in your perseverance, successfully raising your daughters trilingually and knowing the challenges and situations that can create doubt.

Alles, alles Gute to you and your family! I think I'll run to the computer to send you a message as soon as that magical moment happens when my son speaks both English and German.

Post by Patricia on Sept 21, 2017 3:23:34 GMT 9

Dear Mayken,

I’m so grateful for your encouragement! Your daughter acing her admission test to a minority language school despite overwhelming majority language exposure is such an inspiring example of the impact we can have.

I just discovered your website, www.cow-pla.net/wordpress/, and I love your German book suggestions – and my son moments ago was curiously and intently watching one of the videos of your daughter reading German!

I so appreciate your advice of keeping at it one day at a time - and not worrying too much (that’s a big one for me! ).

Post by Adam Beck on Sept 21, 2017 14:31:43 GMT 9

I carve out a few minutes each day to continue reading your book - which has served as my main inspiration for sticking with my goals and matching them with dedicated action - as well as to check out the helpful resources on this site. I will be sure to post my heartfelt positive review of your book to Amazon.

Are there any plans to have the book translated into other languages? Aside from Spanish for the US market, I think it could have even more international appeal when reaching its audience in the native language.

I recently introduced the book to my brother's wife, who is Polish (they live in Austria with their 15-month old); unfortunately, she does not speak or read English at this level - so I do my best to translate the main principles expressed in the book to German (wishing that I knew Polish, too). She feels somewhat "stigmatized" when speaking Polish in public, so they use primarily the majority language (German).

I hope that my sending her messages with translated excerpts from your book (often in "real time" as I'm reading it) will spark her interest in raising her son with exposure to her native language unapologetically and proudly.

Thank you again for all you do!

Patricia, there's some lovely synchronicity in your good suggestion about translations of the book because just today I posted an announcement about this at my blog! Recently, I've received several inquiries from publishers out in the world, about foreign language rights, so I thought I should be more organized and intentional about making this offer.

I feel honored to know that you've found the book so encouraging that you're sharing it with your brother's wife in this way. Thank you for all your positive feedback and support, Patricia--your warm words have given me a tremendous lift today (amid a rather tiring month).

Let's keep moving forward with our best efforts to promote bilingual children, both inside our family and outside in the world.

Adam Beck is the founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo, and the author of the popular book Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability amzn.to/22XKuCt and the humorous novel How I Lost My Ear amzn.to/2EsjVRS, both available worldwide. Please support The Bilingual Zoo through Adam's Patreon page www.patreon.com/bilingualmonkeys.

Post by Patricia on Jan 20, 2018 2:06:20 GMT 9

THANK YOU all so very much for your support, and for the continued motivation and inspiration my family derives from this platform and Adam Beck's work.

My 2-year-old son (28 months) went straight from speaking only a few words to speaking full sentences in correct grammar, both in English and German (although he favors English, the majority language). It is as if he had been processing and "downloading" all the vocabulary and stimuli from his surroundings and books, and now he is sharing it with enthusiasm; it is bursting out of him at unstoppable pace. No matter how busy our days, I have adhered to at least 15 minutes of reading to him in German - as Adam Beck recommends in his wonderful book - and I see now what a difference it has made, as he draws on this pool of German vocabulary and sentences.

From my heart, wishing you all joy and happiness on your bilingual/multilingual journey, and may we continue to empower each other!

Post by Amy on Jan 20, 2018 3:09:27 GMT 9

What a wonderful post Patricia! Congratulations! Keep this amazing feeling in your heart for the rest of your journey, and remember it whenever in doubt again.

Reading is a magical moment with your child, make the most of it! I have been unwell recently and cannot read as often as used to (I sometimes read up to four or five stories a day if my kids requested it!) and I really miss it. Can't wait to feel better again to read to them again.

All the best to you and your family on this rollercoaster journey!

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Adam Beck on Jan 22, 2018 16:10:36 GMT 9

THANK YOU all so very much for your support, and for the continued motivation and inspiration my family derives from this platform and Adam Beck's work.

My 2-year-old son (28 months) went straight from speaking only a few words to speaking full sentences in correct grammar, both in English and German (although he favors English, the majority language). It is as if he had been processing and "downloading" all the vocabulary and stimuli from his surroundings and books, and now he is sharing it with enthusiasm; it is bursting out of him at unstoppable pace. No matter how busy our days, I have adhered to at least 15 minutes of reading to him in German - as Adam Beck recommends in his wonderful book - and I see now what a difference it has made, as he draws on this pool of German vocabulary and sentences.

From my heart, wishing you all joy and happiness on your bilingual/multilingual journey, and may we continue to empower each other!

Patricia, I'm thrilled that you and your son are making such happy progress! Updates like yours are so gratifying to hear! Good for you, and good for him!

In fact, just two days before your update, I made a new blog post on this very subject: "breakthroughs" in the use of the minority language. Here's the link, if you haven't yet seen it yet...

Patricia, please continue updating us from time to time. I expect, with your ongoing efforts (yes, keep reading aloud each day!), that you'll have more and more good news to share with us over the months and years ahead.

Adam Beck is the founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo, and the author of the popular book Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability amzn.to/22XKuCt and the humorous novel How I Lost My Ear amzn.to/2EsjVRS, both available worldwide. Please support The Bilingual Zoo through Adam's Patreon page www.patreon.com/bilingualmonkeys.

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What's on your mind right now? Just type and hit "Enter" to share it here!

Amy: Cute code switching this morning when my 3 year old told me "I get my pótamo" (she meant her hippo soft toy). This mixing was music to my ears... It means she is truly growing trilingual. Apr 6, 2019 2:51:35 GMT 9*

Adam Beck: Lovely, Amy! Good for you, and good for her! P.S. I like hippos.Apr 7, 2019 10:32:37 GMT 9

Alba: So funny, Amy! Great to hear I love the word Hypo, every child says it different! My son did something similar when he say "This tocotó", he calls horses "tocotó" based on the noise they made when trotting (tocotó, iiii (neigh)-ok, for a Spanish ear) Apr 8, 2019 6:52:09 GMT 9

Amy: Cheer Alba and Adam Beck! . I love these "baby" words. They are so cute. I like the "This tocotó" another example of state of the art Spanglish <3Apr 9, 2019 4:54:05 GMT 9

Mayken: Got home from a short trip to Zürich - heard German, French & Italian on the train, and both German and French in the tram. And everyone speaks English too. It was nice to be able to choose which of my languages I wanted to speak!May 6, 2019 23:07:42 GMT 9

Mayken: It is, Amy . I didn't realise how much I had missed it.May 7, 2019 23:10:43 GMT 9

Amy: Last year, a new colleague joined my team. She's trilingual in the same languages as me. It was like magic. We change languages and even code-switch several time a day. I had missed that so much!! My monolingual colleagues must think we're freaks! lolMay 8, 2019 4:56:12 GMT 9

Amy: Unfortunately, she has resigned and is leaving shortly. I was so proud to introduce her to my eldest, one day that I had brought her to show her round my office. And to introduce other bi/multilingual colleagues. Show how important languages are.May 8, 2019 4:58:26 GMT 9

Mayken: That must have been wonderful, Amy! I'm sorry she is leaving. I would love to find someone like that. We had an English intern last year who spoke German and French. We chatted a lot.May 8, 2019 6:06:01 GMT 9

Caro C.: Oh Amy I sort of feel related to what you are saying. Some months ago I made a friend from the US. She happens to be a neighbor with four kids. We’ve been sharing back and forth and I’d love my baby girl to eventually be able to share with her childrenMay 13, 2019 12:55:09 GMT 9

Caro C.: Although maybe they will be a bit old for her, still we (I mean their mom = Sarah and me) both are very happy and grateful for each other as friends.May 13, 2019 12:57:05 GMT 9*

Mayken: As of yesterday, I am aunt to a baby girl who lives in our ml country with 2 ml parents, and I'm already planning to get them a nice nursery rhymes CD for our first visit. May 16, 2019 20:03:47 GMT 9*

Caro C.: OMG I just came across this song and it filled my heart with joy and excitement...perfect for all of us who are parents: youtu.be/g1fcnhB8GOYMay 19, 2019 14:01:55 GMT 9*

Adam Beck: Caro, thanks for sharing that lovely song. Raffi was one of our very favorite musicians when my kids were small. We listened to him all the time. I highly recommend his albums as a source of very enjoyable and very effective English input. May 20, 2019 15:32:26 GMT 9

Mayken: My daughter is on a field trip this week and I feel like I've lost my main purpose May 20, 2019 20:03:33 GMT 9*